They Were Kids That I Once Knew
by Ooo-shiny
Summary: Oneshot about how much the Young Justice team has changed. *Now extended to a fourshot*


_**Bold and Italics= Lyrics**_

_Italics=Flashbacks  
_

* * *

**_Tell me everything that happened._**

_Artemis, curled up in a ball, sobbing as she listened to the clock count down. Sobbing as she thought about her friends, that were dying.  
_

_Zatanna, falling to her knees, as she watched her father leave her forever. Watched him make the sacrifice for his daughter.  
_

_Robin, hearing Wally ask, "You knew the whole time. We came here for nothing." And all he could respond with was "Come on." Because of that overwhelming pain in his chest. Because he couldn't get whelmed, or traught, or feel the aster in that moment.  
_

_Kaldur, sacrificing himself for the sake of the mission, acting like a soldier, and leaving a thirteen year old kid to take over.  
_

_Wally, watching Artemis, a person that he cared about, denigrate in front of his eyes. "No," He whispered. "No, no no."  
_

_M'gann, watching her friends explode in front of her eyes. Then turning toward her uncle for help, and just finding another nightmare awaiting her.  
_

_Superboy, watching his friends deaths. Watching his own death. Watching the people he cared about die. And feeling happy.  
_

_**Tell me everything you saw.**__  
_

_Fear. Artemis saw fear.  
_

_Love. Overwhelming love. Zatanna would never feel that much love ever again.  
_

_Pain. Robin felt like the world was pressing on his chest. So much pain.  
_

_Caring. Kaldur would never care about any person more than he cared about his team.  
_

_Sadness. The tears pushed against Wally's eyes, begging to show themselves to the world.  
_

_Guilt. M'gann made it. Why didn't anyone else?  
_

_Anger. Superboy was angry with himself. Why was he happy?_

_Peace. Despite everything, everyone felt that it would be okay.  
_

_**They had lights inside their eyes. They had lights inside their eyes.**  
_

Where did the happiness go? Why did it leave? Had they experienced too much? Had the world hit them to hard? Had they felt too much pain? Had they pushed themselves to hard? _  
_

_Robin and Wally, smiling at Superboy, as M'gann admitted she liked his shirt._

_Artemis, teasing Wally the first day they met.  
_

_Robin, looking up at Artemis. "Way to get traught."  
_

_Zatanna, as she suggested they kidnap her.  
_

_Wally, as he scooped Artemis up, and planted a kiss on her lips. _

_M'gann, seeing the prospects of new friendships as she walked in with her uncle.  
_

_Kaldur, watching his team, laugh and become good friends.  
_

_**Did you see the closing window? Did you hear the slamming door?**  
_

What happened? When did they all grow up?

_Dick, not wanting to hear Bruce's excuses as he pulled off his mask and cape, and stomped away. _

_Kaldur, staring untrustingly at his father, as Black Manta extended his hand.  
_

_Artemis, lying on a infirmary bed, half dead, when Wally realized that he didn't want to have to watch her die.  
_

_Wally, leaving the business, and Artemis, not wanting to lose him.  
_

_Superboy, pulling away from M'gann, because he hated the way she was changing.  
_

_M'gann, remembering Robin's voice. "It's okay on the bad guys!"  
_

_Zatanna, honoring her father by joining the Justice League.  
_

_**They moved forward and my heart died, they moved forward and my heart died.**  
_

Maybe Dick missed that team that he was once a part of. Maybe he missed himself, the cackling little boy he used to be, he missed Wally, he missed Artemis. He could no longer confide in Kaldur. But those people he used to know moved on. Maybe part of Dick died when that happened.

_"What happened." A low angry voice asked, as Wally stepped through the zeta-tubes. _

_"It was necessary." Nightwing murmured, setting down his mug of coffee.  
_

_"It better have been. Spill." Growled Wally, staring at his best friend.  
_

_"Kaldur found a way to help us rescue Lagoon Boy. He inserted a microscopic tag into La'ganns blood stream. And he used the raid on the cave to pass essential Intel. Along with other things, such as the tracker to the tag in Lagoon Boy."  
_

_"That's not all he did," Said Wally, he was so angry at his best friend. So angry.  
_

_"He had to make it look good!" Nightwing defended. "He put inhibitor collars on us, but he knew I'd get us out of them!"  
_

_"He took three more hostages! Members of your team!"  
_

_"So we could rescue them when we rescue Lagoon Boy!" Shouted Nightwing, standing from his seat.  
_

_"Dick, he blew up the cave!" Shouted Wally, grabbing Dick's shirt. "You guys almost died!" He was so angry, the way Nightwing was acting so calm, so much like...Batman. The person he never thought Nightwing would become.  
_

_"No. It's all on the flash drive. He knew I'd have to pursue to make it look legit." Dick pulled Wally's hands off his shirt. "And that's exactly what happened. He gave us time to get out...we just...we got caught in the debris field."  
_

_"Do you even hear yourself?!" Demanded Wally, anger welling up in his chest. "What if even one of you was left behind? Why take that risk?! Why go to such extremes?!"  
_

_"That's all explained on the flash drive too. He needed to secure his position with the light and the light's partner."  
_

_"Isn't that what Artemis's 'death' was for?" Wally inhaled deeply, trying to keep the anger from exploding.  
_

_"I guess it didn't convince everyone." Dick murmured, leaning up against the table, and staring down at his feet.  
_

_"You guess?!" Wally shouted.  
_

_"The cave-was just a place! Worth sacrificing if it helps us stop the invasion! Look. I'm sorry you lost all your 'souvenirs'!"  
_

_"Are you serious?!" Shouted Wally, shoving Dick in his chair. "I don't care about that junk!" He felt like punching Dick. Why was he acting like this? What was so important that he'd risk hurting everyone? "I'm worried about Artemis! Terrified for her! You put her right in his hands!"  
_

_"This is Kaldur we're talking about! He wouldn't hurt her!" Dick protested.  
_

_"I know. Kaldur, our 'friend'. Who, in the space of a few months lost the love of his life. And found out that Black Manta was his father. Isn't it possible that Aqualad might actually be a traitor? A triple agent? He's supposed to be playing them, but are you sure he's not playing you?  
_

To Wally, Dick's innocent heart died. He was gone.

_**Please, Please tell me what they looked like, did they seem afraid of you?**_

They looked scared.

Fear is a word that every single superhero hates, but Young Justice despised it. Yet it haunted their hearts. After their training exercise they all feared their friends dying. They feared love, they feared pain. They feared failing a person they cared about. They feared sadness, they feared guilt. They feared anger and peace. They feared themselves. They feared the future.

_**They were kids that I once knew. They were kids that I once knew. **  
_

_**I can say it but you won't believe me. You say you do, but you don't deceive me.  
**_

_"Do you ever...you know, think about the future?" Asked M'gann. Wally was cuddling Artemis, playing with the ends of her hair. M'gann had her head on Superboy's chest, who had his arms around her waist. Those two couples sat on the couch, while the remaining two, Rocket and Kaldur, Robin and Zatanna sat on the floor against the couch. __Zatanna was laying her head on Dick's shoulder, while he looked at her, his cheeks bright red. _Kaldur and Rocket were holding hands.  


_Several people nodded M'gann's question with a nod, while others said "Uhuh."  
_

_"What do you see?" She asked thoughtfully.  
_

_There was absolute silence in the room as everyone thought about what they saw. Wally planted a kiss on Artemis's lips, passionately. She looked back up at him, smiling, as she realized they saw the same things.  
_

_**It's hard to know their out there. It's hard to know that you still care.**  
_

_M'gann kissed La'gann passionately, her lips hitting his.  
_

_Superboy turned his eyes away. Did she even care about him? Did she even see him? He barley knew her anymore. She was no longer the sweet, kind loving girl that had told him she liked his shirt. Why did she do this to him?  
_

_Was she even there anymore? Could he even rely on her anymore?  
_

_**I can say it but you won't believe me. You say you do, but you don't deceive me.**  
_

_M'gann walked down the hallway, her mind full of thoughts. Her fingers curled into fists as she thought about the mistakes she made. Conner walked in, and saw her. He looked like he was thinking about turning around but before she could stop herself the words shot out. "Conner, I'm sorry." _

_He paused, right there in the doorway, watching her. "That you hurt me, or that you lost me?" He asked after what felt like an eternity.  
_

_"I really am sorry Conner." She whispered.  
_

_"And I still love you." He murmured so softly.  
_

_She glanced up at him in surprise. "Con-"  
_

_"I know...and you don't have to believe it. I just wanted to tell you." He turned, starting to walk away. "And just so you know, in my future? I saw you."  
_

_When he was gone she broke down in tears and whispered, "I saw you too."  
_

_**Dead hearts are everywhere. Dead hearts are everywhere.  
**_

_How do you know if you can ever feel again? Dick had felt that feeling before. When his parents died. When he seemed void of every feeling. Happiness, Sadness, they were just words.  
_

_Kaldur's heart felt heavy, dead in his chest. Tula's eyes were glassy and lifeless. He felt tears well up in his eyes, and he closed her eyes, and kissed her forehead gently. "Farewell old friend."  
_

* * *

_**~Did you touch them, did you hold them?~  
**_

_**~Did they follow you to town?~  
**_

_**~They make me feel I'm falling down.~  
**_

_**~They make me feel I'm falling down.~  
**_

_**~Was there one you saw so clearly?~  
**_

_**~Did they seem to real to you?~  
**_

_**~They were kids that I once knew.~  
**_

_**~They were kids that I once knew.~  
**_

* * *

_**Song: Dead Hearts by Stars  
**_


End file.
